[...] Their conception of the universe does not go much beyond their muslin dresses. And he reasoned how with their 'muslin education' and their 'muslin-girl conceptions' they must unavoidably come to grief. And by this article, which every girl in every educated family in Russia read, he induced thousands upon thousands of Russian girls to say to themselves: 'No, never will I be like that poor muslin girl. I will conquer knowledge; I will think; and I will make for myself a better future.' Each of his articles had a similar effect. It gave to a young mind the first shock.

"From the artistic point of view this novel leaves much to be desired; but for the Russian youth of the times it was a revelation, and it became a programme."

In Helen [Elena] we have the true type of that Russian woman who a few years later joined heart and soul in all movements for Russian freedom: the woman who conquered her right to knowledge, totally reformed the education of children, fought for the liberation of the toiling masses, endured unbroken in the snows and gaols of Siberia, died if necessary on the scaffold, and at the present moment [1905] continues with unabated energy the same struggle.

Narodniki